Queen’s gets green light to buy shuttered Ewa hospital

The state has approved the sale of Hawaii Medical Center-West to the Queen’s Medical Center for $73.2 million, clearing a major regulatory hurdle for the reopening of West Oahu’s only acute-care hospital.

The State Health Planning and Development Agency, which regulates health care projects and acquisitions, approved on Tuesday Queen’s application to purchase and reopen the shuttered Ewa hospital in August 2013.

“There is a public need,” the agency said in its decision, adding that “the cost of the proposal will not be unreasonable.”

HMC-West closed in December, leaving area residents with Pali Momi Medical Center in Aiea as the closest acute-care hospital. Without the HMC-West emergency room, ambulances have been forced to drive farther, and the island’s remaining emergency rooms have been overloaded with patients.

“Instead of going to a hospital there in Ewa maybe only a few miles away, ambulances are having to go all the way to Wahiawa or into town,” said James Ireland, director of the Hono­lulu Emergency Services Department. “Since the closure, (ambulances) are putting on an average of 238 miles a day. This is an important step in the eventual reopening of a first-class hospital in West Oahu.”

In its application to the state, Queen’s cited the vital need to restore the emergency room and hospital services for West Oahu’s fast-growing population and relieve pressure on the taxed health care system. Queen’s said the West Oahu service area accounted for 26,000, or 37 percent, of Oahu’s inpatient clients and 94,000, or 37 percent, of Oahu’s emergency room visits in 2010.

“We understand the importance of reopening a new facility as soon as possible for the West-side community, and everybody’s working hard to make it happen,” said Queen’s spokes­man Cedric Yama­naka. A spokes­man for St. Francis Healthcare System of Hawaii, the current owner of HMC-West, would not comment.

Queen’s will pay $21.2 million for the land and building, and earmarked $52 million to renovate the facility and purchase new equipment. Queen’s said the Ewa facility will have the same number of beds, 134, as it did before and offer the same services as before, including emergency room services.

Queen’s projected it will provide $50 million a year in charity care, uncompensated care or undercompensated care at the Ewa hospital.

The company plans to hire approximately 400 employees.

When HMC-West closed in December and HMC-East in Li­liha closed in January, 1,000 workers were laid off. So far no buyer has been identified for the HMC-East facility.